WTAM Local News

Separate water and sewer bills coming to tens of thousands

(Cleveland)-- Customers of Cleveland Water and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) will now be receiving separate bills for water and sewer service. Cleveland Water chief of public affairs Jason Wood tells WTAM 1100 this separation will create simpler bills for customers, and provide each organization with additional space to share critical information about the services they provide. Customers will not see an increase in their bills as a result of this transition.

“Separate bills are part of Cleveland Water’s on-going efforts to become more transparent and provide better service to our customers,” said Wood. “These simpler bills will help customers by providing a better understanding of the services and charges on their bills, in addition to eliminating confusion about who to call in case of an emergency.”

Customers who currently receive services from both Cleveland Water and NEORSD will receive two separate bills with two account numbers. The Cleveland Water bill will be blue. The NEORSD bill will be green. The two bills will arrive in separate envelopes, about the same time of the month as they currently do, so customers will not have to adjust their budgets.

If customers have questions about their Cleveland Water or NEORSD account or bill, they can still call 216-664-3130 to receive service. After the separation, customers will also have the same convenient payment options, including paying by mail, phone, on-line, in person or via automatic withdrawal. Because the accounts have separate numbers, customers who pay via mail will need to send in two checks in the return envelopes provided with the separate bills. Customers using their own banking institutions to pay bills will need to set up their Cleveland Water bill and NEORSD bill as separate payees with their respective account numbers. Customers enrolled in EFT/EZ pay will automatically be enrolled for the NEORSD charges.

Customers who receive sewer service from their local community will not see any change to their current bill.

Cleveland Division of Water has about 420,000 customers, and about 285,000 of those receive sewer service from NEORSD.